This is part one of an eight part series that aims to give you a social media view into various industries in China. This week we looked at the social media performance of twenty companies on Sina Weibo in the cosmetics industry from September 2015 to the end of November 2015. Here are the top 3 and bottom 3 performers.

Top 3 by Engagement

1. Lancôme - 198,116

2. Sephora - 188,050

3. Guerlain - 163,720

With a presence in over 40 cities and 18,000 retailers across China, it should come as no surprise that Lancôme’s major brand presence stretches into Chinese social media. Lancôme’s ability to retain consumer influence in large part relied upon two factors: localization of e-commerce efforts and active community management.

To complement a highly localized and comprehensive e-commerce platform that includes a consumer-centric WeChat account, the digital gurus behind Lancôme use Sina Weibo highly as a means of customer retention. By consistently posting relevant beauty tips and product giveaway campaigns, Lancôme has penetrated nearly every phase of their target audience lives. When you add in their understanding of KOL importance in China, it starts seeming improbable that anyone will be able to top this beauty giant’s domination in the mainland.

Bottom 3 by Engagement

18. MAC - 1,609

19. Lush - 1,115

20. bareMinerals - 299

Surprisingly, the Estée Lauder brand MAC finds itself in the bottom third of cosmetics companies when it comes to social media influence. When juxtaposed with Estée Lauder’s main account that sports 400k+ followers and 78.5k+ total engagement at a clip of about 380 engagements per post, the excuse of not understanding Chinese digital doesn’t quite fit.

Social benchmarking lets you see what’s working and what’s not, gives your team actionable feedback, and ultimately helps you make better decision for your brands. If you want to find out how the KAWO’s social benchmarking can help you, email [email protected] in order to set up a demo.